How to make a lesson slideshow inside Canvas
Short answer: Canvas pages can’t run slides. By hand, upload a PowerPoint under Files, or embed Google Slides in a page using File → Share → Publish to web. Or open Course++ and type: “Make a 12-slide slideshow on one-point perspective for my Art 1 class and add it to the Week 5 module.”
The problem
Your slides live in PowerPoint, and Canvas treats them as just another file.
A Canvas page can hold text, images and links, but it can’t step through slides. Students open a file instead of a lesson, or you wrestle with embed codes.
a file, not a lessonembed codes to paste
The fix
Ask for the lesson. Get a slideshow in your module.
Course++ builds an interactive slideshow, saves it as a file in your course Files, and links it from a module. Students click through it in their browser.
no embed codelinked from the module
Prompts you can copy
Open your Canvas course, open Course++ beside it, and paste one of these. Change the names and numbers to match your course.
Make a 12-slide slideshow on one-point perspective for my Art 1 class. Add it to the Week 5 module, unpublished.
Starting from a topic.Turn the Week 5 reading page into a 10-slide slideshow with one key idea per slide and a question on the last slide.
When the lesson already exists as a Canvas page.I attached last year’s Week 5 slides as a PDF. Turn them into a slideshow for this year, and add a simple labeled diagram of a one-point perspective drawing on slide 4, showing the horizon line and vanishing point.
When last year’s slides are in PowerPoint or Keynote: export them as a PDF first. Each new picture uses extra credits.Which modules in this course already link to a slideshow or a file, and which have nothing?
A read-only check of where lessons are missing.
How to share a lesson slideshow in Canvas by hand
- For PowerPoint, click Files in Course Navigation, click Upload, choose the file, and click Open.
- In Modules, click the + (Add Item) icon on the module, choose File from the Add menu, pick the file, and click Add Item. Students open it as a file, not as slides on a page.
- For Google Slides, open the deck and choose File → Share → Publish to web.
- Choose the embed option, click Publish, and copy the embed code.
- In Canvas, create a page under Pages → + Page and click the HTML Editor icon (</>).
- Paste the code, click Save, and add the page to your module.
Good to know
- Publishing to the web shares the slides. Depending on your Google account, anyone with the link, or anyone at your school, can see them. Some schools turn publishing off or block embedded content.
- Course++ builds new slides; it doesn’t edit yours. It can’t read PowerPoint files. To build from existing slides, save them as a PDF and attach that.
- Files can’t be undone. Course++ can add files but can’t rename or delete existing ones, and it can’t undo a file it uploaded. The module link can be undone.
- Pictures it makes cost a little more. Course++ can draw a diagram or illustration for a slide. Each picture uses extra credits, and on some plans pictures may not be included. It writes alt text for each one; read it and fix anything that doesn’t match what you teach.
- Related. To build a whole unit, see how to build a unit from learning objectives.
Questions teachers ask
Can I put a PowerPoint in a Canvas page?
Not as slides you click through on the page. You can upload the file and link to it, and students open it as a file. Google Slides can be embedded in a page, if your school allows embedded content.
Can Canvas show Google Slides?
Yes, usually. Publish the deck to the web, copy the embed code, and paste it into the page’s HTML editor. Your school can turn off embedding.
What kind of slideshow does Course++ make?
An interactive slideshow saved as an HTML file in your course Files and linked from a module. Students click through the slides in their browser.
Can Course++ open my PowerPoint and improve it?
No, it can’t read PowerPoint files. Save the deck as a PDF, attach it, and ask for a new slideshow based on it.
250 FREE credits to try it. No credit card.
Canvas steps checked against Instructure’s own Canvas guides in October 2026. Canvas changes its screens from time to time, and schools turn features on and off, so a button may be named a little differently in yours.